RIGHT NOW, CLASSES ARE EXPECTED TO RESUME MONDAY. PARENTS OF JACKSONVILLE HEAD START CHILDREN TURNED OUT TONIGHT TO GET ANSWERS ABOUT UPHEAVAL IN THE EARLY LEARNING PROGRAM. THEY JUST FOUND OUT THE URBAN LEAGUE HAS BEEN OUSTED AND WILL NOT BE IN CHARGE WHEN CLASSES RESUME SEPTEMBER 3RD AND THESE 7 HEAD START CENTERS WILL NOT BE OPENING BECAUSE OF SAFETY CONCERNS. THEY ARE BALDWIN, FAIR FIELD, HAPPILYLAN, MONKLEIT, OLD STANTON AND R.L. WILSON. NOW LIVE FROM OLD STANTON, JIM? THEY GOT SOME ANSWERS. IT IS INTERESTING, SOME OF THE PROBLEMS WE ARE HEARING ARE THE SAME THAT SCOTT WAS HEARING. MOLD IS A PROBLEM IN SAFETY CONCERNS. PARENTS WANTED ANSWERS TONIGHT. AS I MENTIONED, THEY GOT SOME ANSWERS BUT NOT ENOUGH. LACISHA WHEELER JOINED OTHER PARENTS TO HEAR ABOUT THE HEAD START PROGRAM AND WONDERING WHY SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT CENTER HER CHILD WILL ATTEND. I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON, THAT'S WHY I'M HERE. TO FIND OUT. TO FIND OUT WHAT'S GOING ON. DO YOU KNOW WHERE SHE WILL BE GOING. NOT YET. THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE HERE TO FIND OUT. SHE AND OTHER PARENTS DID GET ANSWERS FROM THE HEAD OF HEAD START WHO WAS HERE IN JACKSONVILLE TRYING TO STRAIGHTEN OUT THIS MESS. 13 CENTERS WILL OPEN BUT 7 OTHER SITES LIKE THIS ONE, OLD STANTON ON ASHLEY STREET WILL REMAIN CLOSED ALL YEAR BECAUSE THE BUILDING IS TOO UNSAFE FOR KIDS. SO THE SEVEN CENTERS THAT WE CLOSED, A LOT OF HEALTH ISSUES ARE REALLY AROUND STABLE, SAFE FACILITIES. TO GIVE YOU A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES, THERE WERE SOME SERIOUS MOLD ISSUES. SERIOUS ISSUES IN TERMS OF STRUCTURE SO YOU COULD STEP ON THE FLOOR, THERE WOULD BE SOME SOFT SPOTS THERE. THE AIR WASN'T REALLY HEALTHY. LOTS OF REALLY AWFUL SMELLS. SO YOU COULD TELL THAT THE FACILITIES, CENTERS, HADN'T BEEN MAINTAINED OVER THE LAST MANY YEARS. THAT HAS THE PARENTS OF SOME FIRST-TIME STUDENTS WORRIED. THEY HOPE THAT THE REMAINING CENTERS THAT ARE OPEN ARE SAFE. IT IS NOT A GOOD THING, MY SON IS GOING TO BE SICK GOING THERE. YOU GET VERY SICK. PEOPLE CAN DIE FROM MOLD. CONGRESSWOMAN BROWN WAS ALSO AT THE MEETING. SHE HAS CONCERNS ABOUT HOW UNPREPARED THE HEAD START PROGRAM APPEARS TO BE. TO ME HEAD START IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. WE HAD PROBLEMS AT THE END OF THE YEAR LAST YEAR AND I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT THOSE PROBLEMS, CHALLENGES SHOULD HAVE BEEN WORKED OUT AND SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN READY TO GO. SO WITH URBAN LEAGUE OUT, THEY ARE HAVING A COMPANY THAT'S TEMPORARILY RUNNING THE SCHOOLS RIGHT NOW. BUT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR A PERMANENT REPLACEMENT. THEY SHOULD KNOW BY OCTOBER. LIVE DOWNTOWN, JIM PIGGOTT, CHANNEL 4 THE LOCAL STATION. JIM, THE 7 HEAD START CENTERS THAT ARE CLOSED, ARE THEY GOING TO BE CLOSED PERMANENTLY? WELL, WE ARE TOLD THEY ARE NOT GOING TO HOUSE ANY HEAD START STUDENTS THIS YEAR AT ALL. THEY ARE LOOKING FOR ALTERNATIVE SITES. WORKING THROUGH THE SCHOOL BOARD

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -

The Head Start program is scrambling to get its act together for the schools to open by Sept. 3. The hustle is happening after firing Jacksonville Urban League as the local provider.

The head of the Head Start program, Yvette Sanchez, spoke to parents Thursday to explain what was happening in Jacksonville and which centers will open come Sept. 3.

"So the seven centers we closed a lot of the health issues were around stable safe facilities," said Sanchez. "To give you a couple of examples there were serious mold issues, there were serious issues in terms of structure, so you could stop on the floor and there would be some soft spots there. The air was not healthy, lots of awful smells you could tell the facilities and centers have not been maintained in many years."

Many parents of first time students are worried about the safety of the remaining centers.

"It's not a good thing and my son is going to be sick going there," said parent, Rachel Dekle. "You get sick from mold, people can die from mold."

Congresswoman Corrine Brown was also at Thursday's meeting. Brown said she is concerned about how unprepared Head Start appears to be.

"To me, Head Start is extremely important," said Brown. "We had some problems at the end of the year last year, and I would have thought that those problems or challenges would have been worked out and we would have been ready to go."

Some parents of students who attended the seven closed centers found out Thursday night where their child will go in September. Sanchez told parents who still don't know where their kids will attend the Head Start Program come Sept. 3, and that they will be receiving letters with more information. Shanchez told parents that with all the changes in Jacksonville, the program is still working out details.

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